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 Ananda Sangha—"fellowship of divine joy"—is a worldwide group of individuals who share the search for higher consciousness and the ideal of service to others by following the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda. These teachings emphasize "Self-realisation" as direct inner experience of God. Non-sectarian, they are based on India 's timeless universal truths and offer practical solutions to the challenges of modern life.
Ananda was founded in the USA nearly 40 years ago to support people in search of spiritual growth. Across 16 countries on 6 continents, Ananda Sangha provides classes, events, satsangs, study materials, and other resources around the world, through a network of individual devotees, communities, teaching centres, and meditation groups.
The Ananda Joy Logo (seen above, and also at the upper left of all Ananda India Web pages), represents the soul's aspiration upward toward God and outward to embrace all beings in its quest for enlightenment. The downward curve shows the corresponding descent of divine grace.
Ananda
Sangha India
Every Indian is familiar with the basic truths of Paramhansa Yogananda's teaching. Still, his message of Self-realisation and Kriya Yoga is a new expression of these truths. It is a spiritual revolution for India just as in the West.
"There are so many receptive souls in India", Swami Kriyananda has said, "that in time the work here will dwarf everything else Ananda is doing."
With a small international group of Ananda devotees, he moved to India in 2003, his 78th year, that he might dedicate his remaining life to make his guru's teachings better known in the land of his birth.
Soon Swami Kriyananda began a nightly TV show, A Way to Awakening (AASTHA), reaching millions in India as well as many nearby southeastern Asian countries and the USA. Ananda Sangha Publications was set up to print and distribute many of Yogananda's and Kriyananda's writings and musical recordings.
Swami Kriyananda's 1st publication in India was a correspondence course, Material Success Through Yoga Principles, on applying dharmic principles to India's rising economic opportunities. It is now also available for group study and corporate seminars, and in both print and audio format. In turn came several more books, including what is often considered his crowning achievement, The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita.
Having long encouraged Ananda communities to develop economic means of support in areas compatible with spiritual focus, Kriyananda inspired several such enterprises in India. The first was a boutique, Kalyana Kalpataru—The Wishing Tree—in Gurgaon's Metropolitan Mall, carrying spiritual books, music, gifts, and yoga and meditation aids.
Other Ananda entrepreneurial activities in India have followed:
- Harmony at Work, applying Material Success Through Yoga Principles to work relationships.
- Yogananda's Spirit-in-Nature Essences, a line of 20 flower essences promoting well-being and health.
- Ananda Solar Technologies, developing low-cost energy alternatives.
- Anjali Khadi Clothing, Pvt. Ltd., which creates yoga apparel and fashionwear for Western export. Honouring Mahatma Gandhi's principles of simplicity and ethics, they are made with khadi cloth spun and woven by hand in Indian villages—organically grown, naturally dyed cotton fabrics as well as "ahimsa silks" produced without killing silkworms.
The main work of Ananda Sangha India, however, is the same as in other countries: presenting the teachings of Self-realisation through classes and satsangs. These are held weekly in Delhi, Gurgaon, and Noida. Several times a year, introductory weekend seminars on meditation and Kriya Yoga are offered in other parts of India, including to date Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune. In some cities, small groups gather for meditation and satsang. Advanced students in all localities can prepare for Kriya Yoga initiation, given regularly.
Ananda Sangha India's Future Vision
In addition to founding world brotherhood cooperative communities in India, Swami Kriyananda has determined to build a universal temple of Self-Realisation dedicated to Paramhansa Yogananda. He also envisions opening schools and a university-level institute specializing in training teachers in the Education for Life methods so well proven in Ananda's "Living Wisdom" schools in the USA; a hospice for the elderly; and an orphanage for the young. Monasteries for men and for women are being established.
Swamiji invites all who are inspired by these goals and ideals to join in any aspect of this divine service to Yogananda.
The
Way of Ananda Sanghis
 We
invite you to become one of the founding members of Ananda Sangha
India. Ananda Sanghis dedicate their lives to living the ideals
expressed in this brochure. Read the online brochure, and if
you feel inspired, fill out the membership form and send it
to us. |
"A
Life Dream Fulfilled?" by Swami Kriyananda
 "More
than forty years ago, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, then Prime Minister
of India, gave his personal blessing on a project I had presented
to him. It was to develop a piece of land in the green belt
area near Birla Mandir. That he gave this venture his blessing
was nothing short of a miracle. Many hundreds of others had
tried to get land there, and all of them had been refused...." More |
Ananda
Sangha in Gurgaon
 Please
visit us at Ananda in Gurgaon, south of Delhi. We invite you
to join us for Saturday satsangs (often with Swami Kriyananda on the 1st Saturday of the month), meditation and yoga classes, and more. Directions to
Ananda Sangha, our address, phone number, and photos are provided. |
World
Brotherhood Colonies
 Ananda
fulfills the dream of Paramhansa Yogananda: to establish "world
brotherhood colonies". These are communities where people
can practice "plain living and high thinking", based
on the spiritual principles that Yogananda taught. Learn more
about Yogananda's dream, and Ananda's fulfillment of that dream. |
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